Hillary Clinton’s Speech at World Water Day 2010
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issuesareanurgent

concerneverydayof川真友子

everyyearforindividuals, communities, and countries around the world. And as pressing aswater issues are now, they will become even more important in the near
future. Experts predict ― and many of you are in this audience who areexperts ― that by 2025, just 15 years from now, nearly two-thirds of theworld’s countries will be water-stressed. Many sources of freshwater will be
under additional strain from climate change and population growth. And 2.4billion people will face absolute water scarcity ― the point at which a lack ofwater threatens social and economic development.

Access to reliable supplies of clean water is a matter of human security.
It’s also a matter of national security. And that’s why President Obama and I
recognize that water issues are integral to the success of many of our major
foreign policy initiatives. The United States is making major investments tocombat preventable diseases and improve child survival through our Global
Health Initiative. Increasing access to safe drinking water, sanitation, andhygiene will help save lives that are now being lost to preventable diseases.

Seventy percent of the world’s water use is devoted to agriculture, and theoutcome of our work to promote global food security depends in part on
having a successful water policy and sound water management. A lack ofwater, sanitation, and irrigation we know leads to economic decline, and evencan lead to unrest and instability.

Part of being serious about dealing with and adapting to climate change
is about being serious about water. As the earth warms, rainfall patterns canshift, bringing new patterns of drought and flooding. And we need to get out
in front of that problem.

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Water

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Successful engagement on water can also affect how our country is
perceived in the world. We spend a lot of time working on issues such as
terrorism and arms control and nuclear proliferation. These are obviously
important topics that deserve our attention. But the reality is that they are not
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problems most people deal with on a day-to-day basis. Water is different.
When we demonstrate our concern for the issue, it speaks to individuals on awhole different level. Everyone knows sensation of thirst firsthand. We all
have daily personal experience that we can think about and relate to, even if
the nature and magnitude of that experience varies widely. Our ability tosatisfy our need for water depends on our location and our circumstances. But
as a matter of biological necessity, access to safe, sustainable supplies ofwater is a priority for everyone on the planet.

It is my hope that by making water a front-burner issue, a high priorityin our national and international dialogues, we can give our children and ourchildren’s-children the future they deserve.

Many of you are experts. You have given your professional lives toworking on behalf of water. I am here to thank you. Thank you for what
you’ve done. I know how important it is. Perhaps you don’t see it in theheadlines, but often it’s in the trend lines. Often, it’s under the radar. Often, it
is one of the root causes of what makes it into the top news broadcasts. So
what you’re doing is not only on behalf of water, not even just on behalf ofdevelopment. It’s on behalf of peace, prosperity, opportunity, security. And wewant to be a good partner with each of you and all those who see water as anecessary part of the American foreign policy agenda.

I’m excited about what lies ahead, and I look forward to working withyou, and I thank you for this opportunity to come and talk before you.

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